There are no less than 10 equipment vans on the PGA Tour with each manufacturer having at least 2 tour representatives; this is a whole lot of expertise at the feet of the tour players. I have recently conducted a survey of the tour reps regarding equipment and here are a few interesting findings.

The average driver club head loft has increased from 9.0 to 10.0 degrees.

When talking about driver lofts, club designers and tour reps say “the trend is to go to higher lofts than have been played in recent years”. There is no single reason for the rise in driver loft. Rather, a number of technologies have come together, resulting in the need for additional loft. Driver technology; lower spinning, solid core golf balls and golf shaft improvements have all contributed to the trend. Tour players have a real good understanding of how to hit the ball far, and they know it is not by hitting line drives and hoping for a lot of roll.

Higher lofts in the driver are a key to accuracy and greater distance. The average recreational player should be playing loft of 10.5 and I would suggest up to 12 degrees.

The higher the loft means a higher launch angle, more control and above all greater distances.